Ask MOHAI: What were Seattle’s real speakeasies like?

Twice a month, we ask the experts at the Museum of History and Industry for a tidbit about Seattle’s history. Here’s what MOHAI’s Phyllis Franklin has in today’s installment.

From New York to Chicago, San Francisco to Seattle, one of the hottest trends seizing our nation isn’t the dawn of Tea Party, but rather the revival of the speakeasy. Here in Seattle, places like Knee-high Stocking Co. and Tavern Law have successfully established semi-secretive lounges where one can sip on expertly crafted (and priced) cocktails while enjoying exclusive company in low-lit rooms. This current homage to prohibition-era America, a time when glamorous women and rough men secreted themselves in the boozy basements, got us thinking.

What were Seattle’s real speakeasies like?

On January 1, 1916, Prohibition began in Washington State, making the production, distribution and possession liquor illegal. The law passed three years before the Eighteenth Amendment prohibited liquor in the rest of the nation, and it lasted seventeen long, dry years, until December of 1933. But Prohibition didn’t mean the end of party – it just meant the party went underground. Washington State, in particular, became a hot bed for thinly-veiled speakeasies due to corruption within law enforcement and proximity to Canada (where liquor remained legal). By 1931, a survey reported that Washington State, alone, was home to approximately 4,000 speakeasies.

A man kneeling on the pavement, next to a sign showing the way to a speakeasy, during the Prohibition in America. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

One of Seattle’s most high profile speakeasies was the Chinese Gardens, which opened in 1930 in “Chinatown.” According to Bill Lewis, a former Seattle resident, one gained entrance to this hidden club by walking into the small, legally-operated, street-level restaurant. Guests were then scrutinized before being allowed through a door marked “Restrooms” leading to another hallway with restrooms and a door marked “Private.” Through this door was yet another hallway with many more turns and doors.

Eventually, music became audible and guests passed through a final door to be intercepted at a reception desk, and seated in a darkly-lit room large enough to accommodate several hundred patrons. Though jazz rocked the room, restaurant patrons dined unaware. Customers danced and sipped highballs, warned by their waiters of secret exits – just in case any trouble should interrupt the evening.

Indeed, trouble did hit the Chinese Gardens on Saturday, March 21, 1931 when federal agents raided the speakeasy, arresting several patrons – particularly those caught gambling – and seizing more than 100 bottles of liquor. Agents also arrested staff, including the club’s owner, its entertainers, and even a police detective working in the coat check. Others escaped through one of the secret exits leading up to the roof, where they were able to cross over and enter a nearby hotel, and slip out the hotel’s front door without detection.

This scenario played out all over the country as state and federal agents fought to control the flow of alcohol, at least in the public’s perception. Where actual law enforcement was concerned, the distinction between the “good cops” and the “dirty cops” was vague. In fact, uniformed police officers were observed entering and leaving the Chinese Gardens, making no notice of all the bottles so openly displayed. It was this mass corruption that ultimately lead to Prohibition’s downfall, as it became clear that Prohibition laws, which were intended to eradicate sin and vice, actually fueled corruption and crime.

The Chinese Gardens operated as a restaurant and club until after WW II, outliving the laws that created it.

For more info, check out Paul de Barros’ book, Jackson Street After Hours, or visit MOHAI’s exhibit, Essential Seattle, to learn how Prohibition era bootleggers made their “bathtub” gin.